


Tales of the Hooded

by TheStripeyBag



Series: The C Sagas [3]
Category: League of Legends
Genre: Adventure, F/F, F/M, Gen, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:34:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26188060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheStripeyBag/pseuds/TheStripeyBag
Summary: Before C there were ten others like him. These are their tales and how they tie into the past of Runeterra and it's people, Prequels to the REbooted saga. Cross posted on FanFiction. EnjoyWe take commissions at https://ko-fi.com/vhenan/ and are open to request from private messages and comments.
Series: The C Sagas [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1519622
Kudos: 1





	Tales of the Hooded

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Vhenana](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vhenana/gifts).



A/N Welcome, welcome, welcome! Okay look I know you're probably thinking "But Stripy you've posted a similar chapter recently and have done this for the other 'new' stories? Why not use new content to introduce these stories/expansions?" Well the reason I'm using older, edited chapters is because they are more or less introductory chapters for these new stories. That's part of why I made them, to serve as introductions for these more side storylines that I either wouldn't mind following up or would like to expand upon. Like world building with the past Hooded, getting to show off Multiverses that don't get as much love as others or could be fun to do, giving my other OCs more spotlight time than Caleb. Anyways as always I hope you enjoy this chapter, I'm cross posting this onto AO3 as well, do check out the various polls listed there and in my Fanfiction profile, please leave commission, request, private messages, reviews and all the love you wish. Have a nice day and stay well.

While searching for his friends Aki and Riven in Ionia, Caleb grows worried that in this new timeline they may not exist. Spending the night in a local inn, C experiences a dream that only serves to exacerbate his theory. In a desolate town located within the depths of Hell, the Hooded of the past were relaxing together. Suddenly a strong rumbling disturbs the area and immediately makes all of them go onto high alert. After determining the interference was temporal based, they start to calm down since nothing immediately happened. A member of their makeshift clan, known as Knight, then crumples to the ground in agony. At first the group fears her old Void mutation is acting up again before she reverts back into her human form. All of the brunette's corruption then leaves her body and she rises without issue. A quick magical and medical scan then confirms she is free of the Void's influence. However before celebration or speculation can begin, a terrible new event occurs. The second oldest hooded, known as King, falls to his knees before fading away into dust followed by several others. By the time this crisis ends only ten of the twenty Hooded are left remaining. The last thing Caleb sees before he awakens is all of his remaining predecessors fleeing towards their colorful mage Eccentric.

Some months after that dream, C has reunited with most of his allies and found a new quest to attempt. Inside of his study, Caleb has been struggling to decide which of his love interests to puruse. He has even gone so far as to trap himself in the room and use a whiteboard to list pros and cons for each. Staring at the wall with Sona, Nidalee and Riven's names scribbled on it, he finally comes to a conclusion.

"You know what, fuck it! I can't choose any of them over the others. I guess I'll just see how they react to me telling them and we can try to work it out from there." Caleb rants to himself as a bored Levia glares at him. As she's about to taunt Caleb about his decision making, an infernal circle of runes appears in the air near them. The ring then forms a fiery window to Hell and C summons the Betwixt blade in response.

Appearing in the flames is a woman with a graying mane of hair and a slight smile on her gracefully aged face. Her attire consists of a gray hooded poncho over a matching set of urban camouflage fatigues and leather jacket. A revolver rests in her shoulder holster while a pair of chains give the impression of a belt.

"Guten tag Pumpkin. We've been watching you especially closely lately because of certain rumors. Rumors about you wanting to be in a relationship, are they true?" The dark skinned woman asks with a gruff accent. Caleb quickly dispels his weapon and pulls his gamer chair up to the window.

"Hello Nita, always nice to see you. As for your question the answer is yes, as a matter of fact I've just decided to try being with all of them. Please don't be mad at me for being unable to pick just one." Caleb tentatively informs and pleads with his Hellbound mentor. As he starts to look down in remorse, Nita does what any parent would choose and lifts spirits. She summons her mighty goedendag to lift his chin and gives him a big approving smile.

"My dear child, you follow that squishy mass of meat in your chest if it makes you happy. By the way how did the seven year rule I tell you go?" Nita inquires before summoning a throne of obsidian and demon bones to mirror Caleb. In a bout of excitement, Caleb grabs his whiteboard and starts to show it to his mentor.

"Well Sona falls on the lower end of it, Riven is as old as me, but Nidalee breaks it." Caleb informs The Abandoned, who simply hums in acknowledgement. Remembering something important, the younger Hooded asks his predecessor where Annabelle might be.

"I'll ask Eccentric in a bit and she'll most likely be back later. Now Pumpkin, I don't know anything about romance or lovey dovey things but listen to me. No matter what happens you better treat them right, but don't be a simp about it. Now stop being a pussy and go confess to them before twinkle shit on his mountain, your foxy cousin, a walking mop, blade dancing hoe, a literal giant pussy, or rainbow lizard beat you to it. Laters." Nita advises her apprentice before closing the window. She then turns around to face a young maiden in pink southern belle attire. This little lady just so happens to also be the avatar of this plane's version of Hell, and a frenemy of Nita's.

"So the escapee has found love huh? Too bad you aren't there to see it." Hell taunts Nita before picking up a strange creature with the body of a hippo and the head of a crocodile to pet. Nita simply gives her sore loser friend the bird in response and leaps off the top of Hell's mighty castle.

Nita's current destination is a small town built from the ruins surrounding keep, a refuge for the Hooded amongst the circles. The Abandoned enters a bit of a free fall before her body is enveloped in a crackling aura of black, gold, and red Oblivion Energy. With it the Noxian woman uses her Spectral Form to become weightless before gliding with her poncho. From this high up, she is able to quickly notice a small army of various demons approaching the town. Veering towards the horde, Nita then slows down as a green ethereal ball rockets into the sky before crashing into the trespassers.

Standing in a newly formed crater, a mountain of a man is currently kneeling on a balor with his massive halberd. He is covered from head to toe in noxian steel plate armor with the most striking feature being a stoic, metal mask. As General emerges from the pit, a large snake woman teleports behind him and starts to constrict him with her tail. Before the marilith can try to stab him with her many arms though, Abelardo easily breaks free of her vice. She is unable to recover before General grabs and crushes her skull with one hand. The invaders start to part from the human as he emerges. Eventually one of the demons becomes brave enough to attack, only to be skewered. Seeing they can't take him in singles combat, the horde decides to rush the Hooded. He simply smiles and starts to glow with an emerald, amber, and pink aura of personal energy, for him it's Conqueror Energy.

On the roof of a nearby adobe, a man and woman are drinking tea while playing Noxus Hold'em poker. The lady danbi is dressed in her shrine maiden outfit with a uchikatsugi hiding her foxy features. Glancing at the battle, Danbi summons an orb of golden light and starts to consider helping the General. While the eight tailed fox vastayan doesn't like fighting, it doesn't mean the Saint is above helping her allies. When Abelardo starts to become buried under the enemy and casualties, she throws her star orb to him. Upon landing the ball expands around the polearm master, pushing the bodies away and shielding him. Proud of helping her descendant, the red tailed fox returns to the game and declares "Royal Flush." to her mentor.

"Danbi, put down the shield and let him fight. You know Abelardo likes to fight on his own when he can." Her predecessor, Master, reminds his protegee before sipping from his tea cup. Saint is then quick to slap the cup out of his hand upon recognizing the smell of sake. Seeing that he is caught, Hayate stands up and starts stretching. After brushing off his blue haori, he quickly runs off the edge of the adobe. Before touching the ground, Hayate's eyes glow light blue and a nimbus appears beneath him. Manifesting a katana of wind, he rides forward to both aid General and avoid confrontation about his drinking habits.

Just before Hayate can cut down a fiend or Danbi can charm him back to her, something stops them. That something being two massive hands made of darkness which gently envelope them both. When they can see again, they quickly find themselves sitting back on the roof with a new pair of women. One is Chereese, the Templar, who is giving the duo an extremely annoyed look. However it's the woman riding her back that has both Hooded apologizing like crazy after stopping them. Dressed in nothing more than a tattered tan cloak, ragged trousers and with broken chains dangling from her wrist, the original Hooded look upon her descendents with disappointment.

"Danbi, Hayate, you both know that I don't like it when we argue amongst ourselves. Now I love giving you children freedom to do as you please but unless it's absolutely needed, don't fight." The nameless shuriman woman ends with a note of maternal authority. Saint and Master upon hearing this are quick to make up their differences and apologize again.

Chereese then moves to the roof's edge and sits the legless Slave down next to her. Once she is comfortable, the Templar then summons a railgun made of white and black sentinel sun stone. As she begins to charge up a large blast, the nameless one puts a hand on the silent purger's arm. When asked if she has faith in her protegee, Templar can only glare down at the shuriman for even suggesting otherwise. Looking towards the battle, Chereese sees Abelardo dispatch an ape-like creature with ease. It's moments like these where she can't help but take pride in the strong man who was once a crippled boy. In a rare moment of joy, the always visible and angry eyes of the Templar soften as she dissipates her current weapon.

Knowing it's her time to be in the spotlight, a demonic being with a ram for a head and two snakes for arms crash lands onto the roof. While all the other Hooded ignore this development, the creature starts to violently seize before it's chest explodes. A massive fountain of blood erupts from the gaping wound before it starts a routine similar to the Bellagio Fountains. Eventually the high pressure blood starts to transform into freshwater mid performance. Even that begins to then transmute, upon touching the ground, into shield beetles that fly in a spiral formation. In the middle of this chaotic emerald twister a platform starts to rise, on it is the star of this introduction. She is a shorter woman dressed like a stage magician in a Hood of infinite and constantly changing colors. In her hands is her ever trust staff that ends in a star and a microphone, Star Power. Now please put your hands together dear reader, because ladies and gentlemen, Eccentric has arrived.

But before Alexandria can get off her first line of the new saga though, a loud banging noise is heard beneath her. From beneath her platform a massive cobalt lance erupts and nearly impales the fragile mage. The pole weapon then splits down the middle, and using them similarly to jaws of life, it's wielder prys open a hole. Putting her weapon back together, Knight emerges but freezes when a beetle lands on her hand. Due to a small phobia from her fights with the Void, the hextech warrior starts to swat wildly at the harmless insects. The other Hooded beings notice this and are quick in chasing off the bugs. Ida then kneels for a bit and starts to nervously touch her face. Upon reaffirming she has flesh and no tentacles, the Knight jumps back up and sucker punches Alexandria. Feeling better and with Nita arriving, Ida helps to move Eccentric and give the Abandoned a landing spot on the now crowded roof.

See everyone distracted by Nita and Eccentric's condition, a man in a top hat and tan raincoat makes his move. With petricite war scythe in hand, he tries to cut down Templar only to be stopped by her equinox shotgun. As the Hooded clash, Hunter exerts enough force to snap his weapon's blade off against the firearm. Knowing what comes next, Chereese's attempt to evade fails as a surge of magic explodes from the shaft. While she can take a hit, it doesn't stop the Templar from being blown off the roof and onto the nearby battlefield. With his prey leaving his range, the Hunter quickly attaches a new blade and jumps after his target. This proves to be an error as he is nearly shot down once Chereese opens fire with her CME minigun. Taking a page from a certain icathian troll, Germaine rapidly spins his scythe to block the incoming barrage. Needing to regroup, Germaine pulls out a green vial from his Hood and shatters it on the ground in front of him. From the puddle a wall of vines forms and regenerates whenever they suffer damage. Feeling her blood boiling, Chereese's left hand burst into flames before she summons a pillar of flames on the wall of plants. When the inferno finally dissipates, Germaine has left both his hiding spot and the Templar in surprise. Moving in to investigate, the Templar only finds a blue vial that starts to violently shake before exploding into steam. This attack would have scalded Chereese's face if she hadn't used her pyromancy to push herself back in time. From a pool of shadows that has blended into the recently charred ground, Germaine throws a black vial. Using the steam as cover, his vial smashes behind Chereese and opens the same pool behind her. With the newly made opening, Germaine hooks a Coercion line onto the Templar and starts to drag his prey into the shadows. When her flame jet doesn't stop the pull, Chereese instead summons her SW ballista and fires into the ground. Grabbing onto the large bolt, the Templar is able to stop herself from being dragged into the pool. Needing some extra help pulling her in, Germaine tosses a dark purple vial on the edge of the second portal. Upon it shattering, the spacial magic within mixes with previous shadow magic to simulate a black hole. Even the light slinger is unable to escape this event horizon and is pulled into the shadow pool. Cracking his war scythe across the Templar's face before leaving, the Hunter closes the portals behind himself. But before the portals can fully close, a bright pillar of lights erupts from the original hole. Eventually it refines into a greatsword of pure celestial flame and with it Chereese escapes her prison. Now with Flare greatsword in hand, and body wrapped in yellow, red, and blue Nova Energy, the Templar is ready to continue.

"Alright! I concede! Can't believe you had to bust out the NE on little old me." Germaine quickly tells Chereese to calm her down. The Templar powers down and accepts his surrender with a shmile and a handshake. They are then quickly joined by General, who is holding a strange anteater and snake hybrid in a torture rack hold. After he shatters the last demon's spine, the trio all Coercion line back onto the roof to rejoin the others. While Abelardo goes to talk with Danbi about interfering, Chereese and Germaine take a seat before the nameless one.

"Good match you two. Germaine you almost had her a few times and I loved how creative you got. As for you Chereese, I'm glad you chose to try and win without your personal energy." Slave notes while now riding Knight's back. The pair both show their appreciation, Hunter with a thanks and Templar with a nod, before leaving to get drinks.

"Well everyone, my protegee is going to try and make it work with all of them. If anyone has something they wanna say then say it now!" Nita says in an almost daring tone before turning to Alexandria. "Oh and Gwen has been asking about Annabelle." As the sorceress tries to sneak away and fails.

"Fine Nita! I'll give her back but you've gotta help me gather this water up. I'm gonna pull a Jesus and turn it into wine as a gift for Gwen. To be fair, I don't know how much longer she can handle being on her own. Plus we've had enough fun, right darling?" Eccentric asks Annabelle before pulling the panting yordle ghost from her Hood. As the pair start to mop up the rooftop, Alexandria notices something. "Hey wait, if Stripy was introducing us then where's Monte?"

Back in the material plane, after an uneventful day of investigations, Caitlyn has decided to visit her grandmother's manor. Making her way inside, the private investigator finds her elder sitting on the second floor balcony. The old woman is simply dozing off while holding an old picture in her hands.

"Grandma it's me Caitlyn. I came by to see how you've been doing." The indigo haired woman announces to her blind relative after gently waking her. Putting her new hextech rifle down, Caitlyn looks out towards the sunset and takes in the lovely view.

"Oh Caity it's you! I am so happy you came by. Forgive my poor hosting, I'm sure I can whip you up some quick food or perhaps some tea. So how was your birthday? How are your parents?" The old woman asks while smiling the whole time. She then brushes a hand over her photo before gently putting it down on the table.

"It was good grandma. As for my parents they're doing well these days, busy but good. Also you don't have to do that. Grandmother would you be so kind as to tell me what that photograph was of?" The private investigator asks after her detective instincts finally give in. The old blonde simply smiles and pushes the sepia picture to her granddaughter. In the photo is a young Eliza and a man around her age with a vintage undercut in a three piece suit.

"It's of me and your grandfather a year after we met. Stevan and Camille might have hated him but I suppose that only added to his charm. We had such a wonderful time together and I'd do it all over again if I had the chance. Caity I've never told anyone this but I'm so tired. I've lived so long but it seems that everyone around me passes on. Sometimes I just want to look into my husband's eyes again and be with him." The old woman confesses with more than a hint of sorrow. Caitlyn can't stand to see her elder so downtrodden and comes up with a plan to help. "Maybe you could tell me some stories about grandfather?"

"I suppose that could be fun. Well I remember it was fall and I was walking home when I noticed the weather was turning sour. So I tried to take a nearby alley as a shortcut and that's where I found him. He was just lying there with blood all over his suit and a large burn mark on his stomach. From there I took him to the hospital and spent the next two weeks visiting him." Eliza tells Caitlyn as she starts to reminisce about the past. Nearly sixty years ago she met the love of her life but she can still remember it better than even yesterday.

On that day sixty years ago, a young man was smoking in the second floor window of a zaunite warehouse. He looks to the group of over thirty people below him, each preparing their own guns and blades. Putting a hand through his indigo hair, Monte still can't believe he was able to even gather this many to his cause. His plan is to make their way to the Bluewind Court via an abandoned gondola station. Hopefully from there the big wigs in Piltover will be willing to negotiate fair labor contracts with Zaun. If all else fails, they still have an assortment of pistols and shotguns for leverage and protection. Plus Monte figures that if even the guns fail he'll still have his secret weapon. At that moment his hands start to leak the crystalline orange, lime green, and brown energy he recently gained after falling into the canal. Taking a deep breath, Monte shakes off his jitters, checks his revolver, and disperses his Revolutionary Energy. As the clock rings twelve bells, Monte leaps down and starts to lead the zaunites' march. Along the way he starts to notice one of the men acting nervous and falls back to them.

"Hey there pal. What's eating you up?" Monte asked before putting his arm around the teen's shoulder. "Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean what happens if we get into a fight?" The boy named Antonio nervously asks their group's leader. "Of course it is! As for the whole fighting business, just let your instincts take over and let me lead you guys to victory. Oh and before you ask how I know if I can do that, fucking instincts." The young Gunner tells his not so faithful follower.

Arriving just before the next bell passes, the zaunites give their weapons one last check before heading inside. Originally this building was built along the cliff as a means of transporting engineers up and down the canyon during the canal's construction. The plan is for the marchers to take the central staircase and gondola lifts inside to reach Piltover undetected. Making his way back to the front, Monte smiles at the fact they're ahead of schedule and is one of the first to enter the building. As soon as the Zaunites enter the building however everything immediately goes fubar. Currently on their way down the steps is an equally large and armed group of Piltover wardens. Monte's suit barely has time to transform into makeshift plate armor before both sides panic and open fire. Less than a minute later and over two thirds of both sides are already dead. What remains of both groups have managed to hide behind the pillars decorating the foyer. For a brief bit it turns into a bloody stalemate, until one of the gondolas arrives. From the side, a squad of fresh wardens arrive and provide cover fire for the few remaining allies they have. Seeing this turn of events, and needing to turn the tide, Monte summons a ball of his energy. He then lobs the sphere into the metal tube before it starts to grow unstable. In the last moment before it explodes, Monte realizes his mistake, that there is too much power in his attack. After a massive explosion, the entire building floods with dust and debris as both sides are routed. Among the bodies, an injured Antonio rises up in time to see a warden execute a zaunite. Locking eyes, a now bloodied Antonio quickly runs outside as fast as his mangled foot will allow. As the warden gives chase, Monte wakes up to his own problem after the explosion. One of the zaunite's makeshift swords was blasted into the revolutionary and is currently embedded across his stomach. But with the last zaunite follower in need of help, Monte ignores his pain and tears out the blade. Getting up and sneaking outside, the Hooded sees the warden standing over Antonio.

"No wait! I was the informant!" The teenager screams just as the warden cocks his pistol. Before he can fire however, Monte stabs the officer in the neck and saves the zaunite. But when Antonio tries to thank Monet, the Gunner executes the traitor and stumbles back.

"Shit man, I told you to trust my instincts. Shit law dogs are coming. I need to get the hell out of here but… what's that? You know how to get me away quickly?" On that note, Monte sticks his arm out towards the top building, and with the word "Coercion", summons a tendril. Said tendril then attaches to the roof and pulls the young Hooded to his desired location. From there Monte avoids warden reinforcements by sneaking his way further north into Piltover along the rooftops.

'Shit this hurts! Come on Monte Ardire, keep going.' The bleeding zaunite thinks before collapsing near the edge of the building he's on. Realizing he needs to close his wound, Monte covers his hands in his energy and cauterizes the gash. This proves to be too draining for the young Hooded however and causes him to fall off the roof into the nearby alley. As Monte falls, he's barely able to launch a Coercion line to slow himself down.

'Well I guess this is it huh? I can't move anymore. Shit and the sky is gray. Come on Janna you couldn't let me see the sun before I died? I got out of that Grey infested hole just to see more before I die.' Are the indigo haired man's last thoughts before blacking out. Around the corner, a platinum blonde woman dressed in her artificer uniform looks at the sky and decides to take a shortcut home.

"Over the next couple of weeks at the hospital we became friends because of a mutual love of machinery we had. But Camille and Stevan hated the idea of me becoming so close to a stranger." Eliza says with a bit of a smirk at annoying her siblings. A few moments later two servants arrive with tea and cakes for Caitlyn and her grandmother.

"I still can't believe someone as sweet as you is related to people like Camille and Stevan. Do you have any more stories of you and grandfather's time together? Maybe one about how to bake these tea cakes?" The investigator asked Eliza before going for said snacks. Eliza goes on to retell how awkward Monte felt when he first met her family a few months later

After spending the last few months learning his abilities and seeing a certain woman, Monte is heading to a protest in Zaun. Hundreds of workers from the hextech processing facilities are currently asking for a larger wage near the Factorywood district. Taking up a position on the nearby rooftops, the Hooded is currently lounging about while watching for trouble. While Monte is worried about the protesters' safety, he's also doing this as a way of passing time for his appointment later. As per procedure, a line of wardens has formed a barrier between the factories and the protesters. While eating some cookies and watching the peaceful protest, Monte spots something moving on the nearby roof. His hopes for it being a random sump snipe are quickly shattered though. From a case, a tall woman in a cloak and gas mask pulls out a rifle and takes aim. She's barely able to get a shot off when suddenly a tendril rips the firearm from her hands. However the damage is already done as one of the officers is hit and everyone is sent into a panic. Seeing this, Monte tucks away the rifle and begins to chase the mystery sniper across the rooves. This quickly proves to be harder than expected as she then uses a grappling hook to descend the side of a building. Armoring up, the Hooded then jumps off after her and uses Revolutionary Energy to help break his fall. Maneuvering past the chaos between protesters and officers, the pair's chase ends up taking them near the Wharfside Docks.

"Stop running right now!" Monte yells as a warning before firing a flintlock at the woman's feet. Swapping out to a revolver, the Hooded slowly approaches the cloaked stranger before asking, "Why did you shoot into the crowd back there?".

"My motives are not your concern." Is all the mystery woman says before roundhouse kicking at Monte. This only confuses the Hooded because he's made sure to stay outside of her immediate range, until Monte sees a glint.

From near her foot, a curved blade juts out and cuts a wide space in front of her. This forces Monte to fling himself backwards to narrowly avoid the blade cutting his throat. The lobster armored Hooded barely manages to turn over in time to block an axe kick with his revolver. Sweeping out her feet, Monte then rolls away and pulls out another revolver to aid his parrying. He is then constantly pushed to the defensive but manages to find an opening to attack. The Hooded manages to move in toward his attacker and grabs onto one of her feet mid kick. He manages to pistol whip her in the face but is forced to let go when she improvises a corkscrew kick. Getting knocked down, Monte tries to shoot the woman while she's on the ground with her back to him. To his shock, in a feat of sheer grace, speed, and skill, she does a prone kip up over Monte and pulls a trigger to fully extend her blades midair. This maneuver forces Monte to literally bend over backwards as she flies over him with her custom shon-xan footed glaives. He does manage to succeed but winds up getting his helmet nicked across the cheek. While this close, he can barely see a familiar pair of icey blue eyes under the stranger's gas mask. Not one to be distracted by the feeling of nostalgia over him, Monte quickly opens when his opponent lands. Finally forced into a disadvantageous situation, the mystery woman pulls out a smoke bomb and throws it down. After the area clears of smoke, the zaunite attempts to look for the sniper but is unable to find her. While he is investigating though, Monte is able to find a few droplets of the stranger's blood where he opened fire. Pulling out a stopwatch, Monte sees it's almost thirteen bells and decides to rush towards his first appointment. He is barely able to make it on time to the new gun shop, Shot in the Gray, and place his order before his next appointment. After breaking into a bath house and cleaning up, Monte takes the Rising Howl and finds a carriage waiting for him topside. It's around eighteen bells by the time he arrives in the Bluewind Court, a district where only the most prestigious of even Piltover can live. As he fixes up his suit, Monte looks out the window and can't help but notice all the differences between the Sumps and here. It would be especially hard for anyone to not notice the lack of litter, beggars, general peacefulness, and he can't help but feel a bit disgusted by it. Eventually his ride stops in front of the magnificent Ferros Clan mansion, where Eliza is awaiting him in a long purple gown. Seeing how beautiful she looks, Monte can't help but wish that his suit would stop eating his other clothes.

"Are you nervous? I can tell them you got held up at umm where do you work again?" Eliza inquires of her sweating friend. "At a trade company." Is all Monte can splutter out before taking his hat off and fanning himself.

After helping Monte get over his panic attack, the two walk inside and make their way to the main dining hall. Awaiting them are Eliza's parents, Rhodri and Gemma, and one of her siblings, Stevan. While the youngest Ferros is giving Monte a constant aura of disgust, his parents seem delighted that their daughter has a friend. The couple then start to embarrass Eliza when they start telling Monte about her introverted lifestyle and childhood. As the middle child begins to desire death, the eldest of the Ferros children arrives.

"Forgive me for my tardiness everyone. I had to take the long route home due to interference at the excavation site. Oh we have a guest. Hello sir, my name is Camille." The Ferros child says as she enters from the kitchen doors. Monte reaches his hand out to greet her but stops when she quickly takes a seat. At first he considers telling her off for being rude but then catches a whiff of a familiar smell, blood, and takes a seat as well.

The evening then passes by without a hitch, even if Monte's nerves almost make him vomit on Stevan's shoes more than once. Seeing it's getting late, Monte decides to leave and Eliza chooses to escort him. As the two near the front gate, the hostess decides to strike up a conversation with her special guest.

"Well that went as well as it could. Also on behalf of Stevan's shoes and myself, thank you for holding yourself together. I suppose being around such highly regarded gentry would make anyone nervous, or perhaps something else made you this way?" Eliza asks with more than a bit of a smirk. The Hooded just figures out what she means when Eliza drunkenly stumbles a bit. Monte catches the noblewoman but blushes a bit from how close the two are. Meanwhile inside of the house, Rhodri is overlooking the entrance while Camille takes a seat in his study.

"I take it you accomplished your mission, despite any unwanted interference?" The patriarch asks of his oldest. "Yes, sir." Camille answers professionally, after all she knows these exchanges are completely business. "Who tried to stop you? Were they a part of another clan?" Rhodri inquires while running through the possibilities in his head. "They were wearing armor but it didn't have any marks on it. It seems they also had a fondness for firearms but lacked any other real combat skills. I completely outclassed them when we faced off." The eldest sibling says with a bit of a smile. "OH, so you killed him and they're gonna be in the papers as a corpse that washed up in the canal? Or did you get shot and run away as soon as it happened?" The clearly disappointed and annoyed father says while holding back his shouting. Before Camille can respond, Rhodri places a hand on her shoulder and calms down. "Listen Camille, you managed to hide your identity and escaped which I am grateful for and proud of. However, a witness can complicate things and you'll be the clan's chief intelligencer someday. We all need you to avoid making mistakes like this or they can get costly. Next time you see this idiot make sure to finish him and dump his corpse into the canal. That way we can show Piltover, Zaun, and the world just how in charge Clan Ferros is. Dismissed." Camille's father tells her before the ashamed woman responds in the only way she can, "Yes, father."

Back outside, Monte's carriage arrives but before he can leave Eliza has to ask him something important. "Monte wait! I heard a new restaurant is opening up soon, I was hoping you'd go with me?" Closing the carriage compartment, Monte leans out the window and answers with a simple, "Yes." With their time concluded, the pair wave goodbye before he is driven towards the Rising Howl. His confidence also manages to slowly return to him, after all, if it's just the two of them he should be fine.

"My great grandparents died not too long after that if I remember right. It must have been a tough time for you all." Caitlyn recalls as she finishes cleaning the dishes, this way the servants can go home early. The private investigator then helps her grandmother to the bathroom so she can get ready for bed.

"It was a tough time Caity but my Monte helped me through it. I just wish I could say the same for Camille. She started to become obsessed with being the clan's intelligencer after that. I tried to help her and that Hakim gentleman got close but, well you've seen her now. I think her coldness even eventually scared off Monte." The blind woman confesses to her granddaughter as she finishes her bath. When Caitlyn then asks if she ever wondered if Monte elope, Eliza simply gives a light hearted laugh. She does admit that one time she was worried about an elfin woman with a penchant for red, but she was just a good friend.

Deep in the Sump levels of Zaun, Monte is stumbling through a series of alleys while constantly keeping an eye above him. After leaving his newish company for the day, the Hooded left to attack a Hextech production facility. While setting the charges and wondering what to order for his date, a window creaking alerted him to another presence. When he turned to face the figure, a blade nearly took his head off. A second one quickly follows the first and this one cuts across Monte's left eye. Falling onto his back, Monte can do nothing but scream in agony before rolling away. Summoning a pistol, the Zaunite starts to blindfire at his attacker but is more concerned with fleeing. Managing to scramble outside, he quickly attempts to Coercion away on some nearby build. This escape fails though when his attacker begins to follow him with a grappling hook gun. Heading deeper into Zaun, Monte sees a gap in a series of nearby pipes below and tries to thread himself through. It proves to be a nearly fatal decision as his pursuer slams into him midair and causes the Hooded to plummet. The armored man is sent careening and breaks over six ribs as well as his right hand and knee cap. Shambling to a nearby wall, Monte lobs a Revolutionary Energy Grenade into the pipes and seals them shut with an explosion. Using the old and cramp alleyways he grew up in, the zaunite tries to avoid open areas in case of aerial attacks. Eventually his luck and the alleys run out as his exit is cut off by his hunter. Stand there with a heart made of hextech, blade augments in place of shins and feet, and a pair of piercing, augmented eyes that go from orange to their usual piercing blue is Camille. Monte isn't even given a chance to beg when she goes on the attack again. Grabbing him by the head, Camille smashes her target's head against the nearest brickwork repeatedly. Yanking her prey by his now heavily dented helmet, she throws him near the safety railing on the edge of the street and cliff. When Monte tries to pistol whip her, the Steel Shadow grabs his left arm and breaks it before punching him in the face. She then twirls into his body before slamming both knees into his chest and rolling with him. When she's under him, Camille uses her leverage and enhanced strength to propel her foe into the canal below. With her target eliminated, the Ferros intelligencer heads back home for more orders and to report her success.

A mile outside of the city limits, a twisted creature that is part crocodile and beetle with a mouth filled with writhing needles, emerges from the canal. Opening it's massive maw, the chimera vomits up the broken and barely breathing body of Monte. Some movement from the nearby brush draws the beast attention, emerging is a woman. Dressed in a crimson flapper dress and putting her high heels into a satchel is Gwendolen, Monte's secretary from the Ardire Shipping Company. The elfin woman takes a knee besides the broken hooded and checks his vitals.

"Good job Clorbach. Hmm he's definitely weaker than the last but I'm sure I can help with that. Just like your broken umm everything." The redhead with blonde stripes says before pulling out a pair of clawed gloves from her satchel. Putting them on, her hands begin to glow red before she plunges them into the broken man's body.

A week later inside of Gwen's manor near Noxus, Monte wakes up in a king sized back in his suit form and with a strange pink creature looking at him. It looks like a small furry child in a maid outfit and is holding a wet rag. As the creature screams in shock, the Hooded tries to comfort her only for his hands to go through her. Like any good homeowner, Gwen burst into the guest room to see what's happening with her whip drawn.

"Annabelle are you okay?! Oh hey you're awake again. Welcome back to the land of the living." The hemomancer says with a smile before Monte looks away in embarrassment. It takes a bit for the hostess to remember she's without clothes and Annabelle gives her a towel.

"Gwendolen where the hell am I and why are you naked?!" Monte shouts in a fit of annoyance. The last thing he can remember is Camille throwing him into the canal and passing out.

"My house near Noxus Prime and well my house. Also it's just Gwen, I add random bits to it so no one freaks out if I show up in a few decades looking the same." The ancient blood mage adds before telling Monte about how old she is. Upon hearing her real age, the zaunite lays back down in the.

"Okay I'm either dead and in Hell or today has been a really bad dream." Monte groans before Gwen corrects him that it's been a week. With that revelation, the Hooded scramble out of bed and tries to leave before Gwen stops him. "Gwen let me go. I need to let Eliza know I'm okay."

"And let Camille know you're alive?! You go back to Piltover now and she'll kick your ass again. Except instead of needing a hemomancer you'll need a necromancer. So I have a proposition for you." Gwen only agrees to tell the Hooded of her ultimatum if he agrees to it before hearing it. In short, she will train him for at least the next six months in the fighting styles of the Hooded. She'll house him, feed him, teach him, and even give him a day off down the line but he can't return home in the meantime or contact anyone without her permission. Reluctantly the novice Hooded agrees and the two forge a blood pact to seal the deal.

Over the next four and a half months Monte trained in the ways of the Hooded Style. The physical portion of his physical training takes place near the summit of Mount Targon. Here Gwen unleashes barrages of attacks at him, he is to either dodge them or near to take and roll with the attacks that he can't. For his mental training she takes him to a hidden library, inside of the hill this sanctuary is built into Monte learns of the past Hooded. His spiritual training begins once the Hood itself takes him inside of his soul. There the Zaunite looks into who he is and what defines him the most.

"Look into who you are. Tell me what form do you see your energy as?" The Hood asks it's current wearer while in the form of the Knight user. Monte meditates on this question and sees what looks like a cavern of crystals. The next question the Hood asks is what is his worst trait, his best trait, and his core trait.

"I am brash, I've led people to their deaths because I was overconfident. I suppose my best trait might be my reliability, I'm training so hard so I can go back home and be dependable. As for my core, I think it might be my charisma because I have been able to convince people to go along with my ideas since I can remember." With that the crystalline cavern in his mind begins to glow orange, brown and finally lime green. Now knowing what his traits are, Monte can truly train in controlling and using his Revolutionary Energy.

Thinking today will be no different, Monte wakes up and finds Gwen reading a novel on her couch. Annabelle then passes by and offers the Hooded in training a brownie before giving Gwen a Rakkor 675 AN bottle.

"Okay what's going on here? You don't let me eat brownie and we should be on Targon by now… are those pot brownies?!" Monte shouts in disbelief at how casual Gwen is acting after being such a hard ass for months. Taking the bottle from her yordle friend, the hemomancer cuts off the zaunite's incoming rant with a raised finger.

"Ahh that's good wine. Hey Monte, how are you going to spend your day off? After all, what jackass wants to work till they die?" The ancient blood mage asks while sticking her tongue out at the young blood. He inhales a deep breath and quickly leaves to the portal room, he's going home.

One hour later, Eliza is getting dressed to go to the lab and barely finishes putting on her overalls when a knock disturbs her. Storming her way to the front door of her new manor, the Ferros woman prepares to chew out her visitor but stops when she sees who it is.

"You aren't real. Monte died in a fire a few months ago. Tell my siblings to fuck off and that I'm not going back to that mad house they call a home!" The annoyed artificer states before trying to slam the door shut. It's stopped by a thickly armored foot and an equally armed hand holding white and purple snapdragons.

"Eli, let me in so I can explain. I should've come sooner but Camille kind of chased me off. Also these are your favorite right?" Monte somberly asks the Piltover woman, who squints at him and takes the flowers. "You have five minutes." Is all she says before letting him in and taking a seat in the living room.

The zaunite explains how he is actually from Zaun and that he used to be a "revolutionary". Monte then tells her that he really did stop doing it for her and that he was clean until a few months ago. He heard a new factory was dumping gray into his old neighborhood and he impulsively tried to destroy it. From there he tells her of how Camille nearly killed him and how he was saved and trained over the last few months. When she asks him how long he can stay, the Hooded responds that he will be gone by sunrise. The two then go out and enjoy what time they have before Monte resumes his training.

"He eventually left to go finish up his business while I got left with something special. Camille and Stevan were incredibly furious when they found out I was pregnant with your mother. They tried to get me to abort but we were steadfast in keeping her." The elderly woman tells Caitlyn before tucking herself in. Knowing it's time to leave, Caitlyn hugs her grandmother and heads home for the night. As she drifts to sleep, Eliza recalls how Monte proposed to her and they defended their unborn child.

With the young Eliza sleeping in the back of the carriage, Camille steps out to greet the doctors. As soon as she steps out of the carriage however, a pair of chemtech enhanced bullets hit the ground in front of her. Walking down the street with a double barrel submachine gun in hand is a rematch seeking Monte. When the Hooded motions for the Intelligencer to walk with him, Camille tells the driver to wait there and goes along with the Hooded. Just by looking at her foe Camille can already tell that he is not the same fighter from their last encounter. This time around his armor is thicker and more uniformed compared to the mishmash plates from before. Eventually they walk their way to a collapsed building near the edge of Piltover and Zaun.

"You fascinate me with how hard you are to kill. So tell me Monte, are you going to try and shoot me? Are going to tell me about how Piltover is killing Zaun or about how you've been waiting to get your revenge?" The cyborg woman asks in a dismissive tone. Her only reason for even talking is to buy time for Monte to make a mistake.

"Well I'd be lying if I didn't say I was impressed you figured out who I was, only took you a few years. I didn't come for revenge or for Zaun, I came to talk you out of killing your sister and my baby. If you'd like a dowry then I can come up with the money easily." Monte calmly tells the Ferros Intelligencer. As a sign of good faith, the Hooded even dismisses his new Ibex smg and raises his hands.

"At this point it's more of a matter of principle than anything. Do you know how much damage it would bring to clan Ferros' image if word got out about your little bastard's genealogy? For the sake of my clan, sister, and Piltover I can not allow it to be born." Is all the cybernetic woman says before charging Monte. He summons the Ibex back and opens fire but finds his bullets stopping short.

When Camille gets close enough to strike, Monte changes and makes his move. As she tries to go for a roundhouse kick, the Hooded rushes at her and puts her in a double leg takedown. Picking her up, Monte starts to run towards the cliff as Camille repeatedly smashes her elbow into his head. Diving off the cliff, the Intelligencer breaks free and the two start to trade blows while plummeting. After Monte uses a Coercion line to pull Camille into a clothesline, something pops from her thigh. A grappling hook shots sideways into the cliff and pulls the cybernetic woman to safety. Wearing a look of sheer annoyance, the Gunner comes up with a new idea and crashes into the rubble. Cautiously Camille follows after the Zaunite and begins to comb the area. After a bit she finds Monte's point of impact and finds a metallic, earthy toned ball in the center. Throwing a rock at the pod and then dodging behind some rubble, Camille calms down when no retaliation comes. Sneaking as best she can towards the orb, the Ferros woman raises her leg to axe kick it before Monte can react. This backfires when the Zaunite bursts forth from his shell with an orb of Revolutionary Energy in hand. The ensuing blast sends the Steel Shadow flying out onto the nearby street. Snapping onto her feet, Camille dust herself off before Monte emerges from the rubble. Using her grappling hooks, the cyborg slingshots herself at the Hooded faster than he can raise his smg. Seeing she's going for a scissor kick, Monte snaps the Ibex's connector gun shield and using it's twin form blocks both legs. Taking advantage of Camille's awkward position and surprise, the Hooded throws down his weapon and grabs her legs again. Even after she immediately puts him into a guillotine hold, Monte knows he would still prefer she not be able to use her legs. Slamming her into a nearby window, Monte then drags her back across the glass shards it makes. In total agony, Camille holds in her screams before stabbing one of her blades into Monte's helmet and piercing his right eye. Forced to let her go, Monte falls back into the ruins and can only hope his partner is finished on her end. Getting his focus back in the fight, he is barely able to block Camille's striking at his head with a makeshift club of concrete and rebar. Even through his armor, the blow still manages to break his left forearm and knock him down. Needing to end the fight now, Monte waits for Camille to wind up another swing before making his move. As she raises the club to bash in his skull, the Gunner points a handful of bullets at her from between his fingers. With a charge of Revolutionary Energy, he is able to get the bullets to fire and directly hit Camille in the stomach. Dropping her weapon, Camille's cold heart and cool head get overtaken by a burning sensation in her abdomen. Converting his armor into a set of manacles, Monte Coercion lifts Camille and himself back up the cliff to Piltover.

About a half bell later, the two injured and exhausted combatants return to the front of the clinic. Here they find a fully awake Eliza and Gwen waiting for them, one to heal them and the other to scold Camille.

"Sister I think it's time we talked. Monte and me are in love and nothing you or Stevan say or do will change that. We are getting married soon and keeping this baby. I also want you to know that I love you because you're my sister and you've always looked out for me. I sincerely hope that you reconsider your stance on this baby and will be apart of it's life." Eliza tells her sister while holding her slightly bulging tummy. Her speech is slightly ruined however when she notices Camille barely moving. Finishing her work on Monte, Gwen quickly intervenes and resuscitates the heavily bleeding cyborg.

"Don't repeat yourself Eliza. I've heard more than enough of what you had to say. Between Monte and his mage friend here I doubt I'd have much place to argue back. Also I suppose we Ferros women can be stubborn. Now then mage, heal me so I can resume my other duties." The downed cyborg demands before Gwen obliges her. Giving the trio one last disgusted look, Camille grappling hooks away and leaves them to celebrate.

Back in the halls of Hell's Castle in the present, dozens of demonic knights are scattered on the floor with bullet wounds. Walking towards the garden at the top, a middle age man starts to see flashes of his life before his eyes. Of his daughter Isobel being born, her first steps, to finding another child in the noxian sewers, to forming his gang with the first one hundred members, and even the end. The worst day of his life, missing his daughter's wedding, having his gang taken from him, and his student taking his life. Making his way to the end of the Hall of Remembrance, Monte doesn't regret his life one bit and would gladly do it all again. Opening the broad wooden doors leading to Hell's garden, he finds Lady Hell and the aforementioned student waiting.

"Monte, what are you doing? You know we can't let you leave here." Nita warns in a questioning tone before flexing her power a bit. Monte and Hell can't help but look at his protege like she's daft before turning to each other.

"Okay then, well Hell I'd like to commune with the living too. It's my anniversary and I'd like to talk to my wife. I mean you let Nita do it all the time with Caleb and I only wanna do it today." Monte requests with a smile on his face. Hell looks annoyed at the two Hooded before turning to make the necessary runes and a call of her own.

A few hours later and Eliza wakes up to a disturbance in her room. She feels a familiar presence coming from the doorway, the feeling of a Hooded. Waiting for the elderly woman to get up, Caleb can't help but feel annoyed that he was woken up to be a glorified messenger boy.

"Hello Miss Eliza, I'm known as C or the Hooded and I've come with a message. Please come closer to me so I can take you into the Hood for it." The latest in his line says as the old woman put on her slippers. Moving towards the sound of his voice, Eliza carefully walks into the Hood.

Inside of it, Eliza finds herself in a very spartan room filled with some sacks of various coins, board games, an ancient Shuriman translation guide, and a basic literacy teaching manual. Walking to the lone window in the room, she opens it and sees a large amber crystal outside. This surprises her enough to send her fall backwards, only to be caught by a pair of strong and familiar arms. Looking up she is able to see Monte's face and starts to cry as he simply holds her there. Back on the outside, Caleb is relaxing where Eliza left him, especially since he is temporarily blinded by Hell's "special" commune spell. When Levia asks him "How long should we give them?", he simply responds "As long as they need."


End file.
